Sunday, November 9, 2014

If You're Not FOR the People, You Can't BUY the People

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Monday night, Izzy & I went to a wonderful last-minute surprise. Our buddies over at Elevation 66 Brewing do a wonderful quarterly Beer Pairing Dinner featuring four or five courses of their incredible food… paired with their in-house beer selections for a great dining experience at about $60 per person inclusive of taxes & gratuities. Basically, Big Ben let us know just after lunch time that there were two tickets that opened up, so after checking with our schedules, we decided to go. Super Dave and his wife were there hosting along with the chef team… and we sat at a table with Big Ben & his wife basically just having a great time. The food was exquisite, the beer was magnificent, the company was even better… definitely a great value in my opinion… and I highly recommend it to anybody who can drop that kind of change. Here are some pictures of our food…

This last week, Izzy & I continued checking out random 70’s animal horror flicks when we watched “Dogs” starring David McCallum. Basically the story is about a town full of scientists… and then there are some mysterious livestock deaths… possibly coyotes… but with various sized teeth marks. Then people start being killed… and their worst fears are confirmed… dogs are becoming like ants. What’s that? Oh, have you heard of the term Critical Mass? Of course you have… but this is the real scientific term, not that bunch of overprivileged douche nozzles who ride their f**king bikes through the streets to pretty that they f**king matter by causing traffic jams (may they all die horrible deaths). No, this sociodynamic term is used to explain how dogs group together to perform a common good… but somehow their wires get crossed and they see everything as a threat… and thus they start attacking the hell outta everybody. Okay… basically it’s all mumbo jumbo to explain stock footage of happy running puppies with some growling added over eerie music & some K-9 unit shepards wrestle with stunt doubles dressed as old ladies to show attacks. Though… there was one scene in particular that caught Izzy & I off guard where it was like “Did… did they just throw a real German shepard into a wall?” Anyway, it’s 70’s cheap entertainment… check it out if you’d like… there’s even a tasteful scene where a lady gets torn to ribbons in a shower (mostly off-screen illusion a la Psycho) by dogs.

On the other end of the spectrum, Tuesday night, I watched “Dick Tracy” for the first time since it first came out in 1990. Basically, all I remembered from watching it as a kid was that everything was really bright colors… and the music was okay… Madonna was in it… and Al Pacino was the bad guy at… possibly his most Al Pacino-est as we know him today. Anyway, you all know the story, right? Dick Tracy (played by also director Warren Beatty) is the iconic policeman from the old radio shows & stuff who’s out to stop the bad guys of the big city… mainly Big Boy (Pacino). Watching it again as an adult, there was actually quite a lot that I liked about it. The movie is a pretty good adaptation of a comic book kind of movie, with framing, angles & all kinds of things looking like they were taken straight off the comics… even a lot of special effects look like they were basically cardboard cut-outs (like the train yard scene) but doesn’t really pull away from the story, just gives it that atmosphere of almost being through the mind of a child reading the comics. This was obviously somebody’s passion project, whether Warren’s, all of the actors, or the studio 20th century Fox overall. Why do I think this? The cast is f**king NUTS!!! Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Madonna, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Sorvino, William Forsythe, Dick Van Dyke, Glenne Headly, Mandy Patinkin, even cameos with the likes of Kathy Bates, Arthur Malet, Colm Meaney, Catherine O’Hara & James Caan… and music by Danny Elfman & Stephen Sondheim… for what’s basically a kids’ flick. Anyway, it definitely has a whimsical kind of feel to it… kinda old fashion special effects… and really the only bad thing that I can say about it is that it’s pretty campy at some spots. It’s like if you were trying to redo “The Untouchables” but with the minds of TV’s Batman. There are a couple scenes that leave you scratching your head… and the montages are pretty ridiculous… especially if you have somebody like me that has the thought of continuing the scenes within the montage in real life. Also, one of my favorite little things about this movie… is just how hammy Al Pacino’s performance is… it’s f**king excellent. From the ridiculous quotes from founding fathers (“If you aren’t FOR the people, then you can’t BUY the people… Thomas Jefferson!”) to just being a fiery Napoleonic kind of crazy person… and then, during the last few scenes in the final chase/fight… he just kinda turns really f**king weird. Anyway, if you haven’t seen it in a while, check it out. Spoiler alert: Dick Tracy wins… and there’s no sequel.

Friday night, after work, Izzy & I had a nice little dinner date at Jasmin's Café and some drinks at Hopwater Distribution taproom…

Afterwards, Izzy forced me to go to her friend’s dance recital… but with a little twist… it was POLE DANCING!!! (“SHEEEE’S MY CHERRY PIE!!!”) Here's some shots from Studio Botan...

This weekend was actually be pretty chill… watching college football all day at the aunties... including a heartbreaking game where the Utes lost to the Oregon Ducks (great team that definitely should've won... but still). This morning, Izzy made me a wonderful well balanced breakfast for porkloin roast with various spices & sauvignon blanc base. Here are pictures...

Next Saturday is a big brewday at Cerveceria de Mateveza with the SF Homebrewers Guild… but more details on that next time. Have a great weekend everybody!!!